As a follow up to Dean Flot’s March 2 message, President Elam issued the following statement on doxxing.
In early March, after the president’s office was contacted by Â鶹ÊÓƵ Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) members who had been doxxed, the Dean of Students office immediately reached out to them in support. Dean Rob Flot sent a March 2 message to campus condemning this incident specifically and doxxing generally as an attempt to silence people and as a practice antithetical to Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s values. His note emphasized that everyone at Â鶹ÊÓƵ—students, faculty and staff—has a right to express their beliefs without fear of harassment or intimidation.
While the College does not have the ability to regulate unaffiliated, third-party websites, it condemns all forms of harassment, including doxxing. The administration reaffirms that Â鶹ÊÓƵ stands firmly behind our students in their expression of diverse national, political, racial, religious, and other identities as well as well as their participation in non-violent political activities, including membership in student organizations like SJP that are recognized by SLICE and are in good standing with the College.
The administration in the strongest possible terms asserts that blacklists have no place at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. This includes the Admission Office, which has never and will never use them in any part of the admission process. The College has posted information on online harassment and doxxing in the Student Org Handbook and encourages all students to review the guidance there on how to guard against the possibility of online harassment. It provides suggestions on how to protect your privacy online and what to do if you are doxxed—including contacting the vice president for information technology services directly.
Occidental is committed to protecting the safety, privacy and well-being of all of its community members and is undertaking a review of any policies governing student organizations that may result in publication of student contact information. The College will continue to explore how it can most effectively address any threats of online harassment affecting Â鶹ÊÓƵ community members.